A danger dog terrorising an Angus neighbourhood had a muzzling order placed on it six months before its latest attack on a helpless terrier.

Residents in the Arbroath street where the animal lives have now echoed fears it could savage a toddler after it emerged the owner was given a control order last October.

The legal move required her to keep her Staffordshire terrier-type pet on a short lead and permanently muzzled.

Last week, Daniel Billinghurst’s eight-year-old terrier, Dougal, needed emergency veterinary treatment after it was grabbed by the neck as he walked it on a lead past a block of flats in the town’s Dishlandtown Street.

The attack left the tiny pet requiring stitches to a wound on its neck, and Daniel, 29, facing a bill stretching to hundreds of pounds.

A neighbour, who may have helped save Dougal when she threw water on the attack dog, is one of a number of people who have spoken out about the “out of control” animal.

“It’s a well-known danger dog and she (its owner) doesn’t have any control over it,” said the woman.

“We have a dog and worry every time we want to take it out.

“Because it’s attacked other dogs before, we’ve been through different scenarios of what we could do if it grabbed our dog. That’s why I threw water on it to try to get it off the man’s dog last week.”

Police seized the Staffie in the immediate aftermath of the recent night-time incident, but it is now back with the owner.

“They did take it away, but they gave it back almost straight away,” said the resident.

“Something’s got to be done – it has to go.

“Everyone’s worried about it, there are older people who have dogs and they are terrified of it.”

A woman identified by locals as the resident of the property where the animal lives denied she owned a dog when approached on Wednesday.

The Courier has learned that a notice was served under Dog Control (Scotland) Act 2010 powers at the end of October. It followed an incident on local farmland in which the same animal grabbed another small breed by the neck.

Angus Council’s dog warden service imposed stipulations on the owner, requiring her to keep it on a lead no longer than a metre at all times in a public place, and to have a caged muzzle on it.

A member of the family involved in the October case said: “How many times does this have to happen before proper action is taken?

“Do we have to wait until it is a child that this dog attacks because the owner won’t keep it under control?”

An Angus Council spokesman said: “Our dog warden service has been made aware of a reported incident in the Arbroath area and are currently discussing matters with Police Scotland colleagues as a part of their enquiries.”

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